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It has been increasingly acknowledged that universities need to include and support students with disabilities in order to benefit these individuals. Yet, university students with disabilities often face significant barriers that impact their ability to succeed. Traditional higher education practices and belief systems have been identified as problematic, in how they influence students' feelings and attitudes towards disability, and their self identity construction. Our qualitative research study was thus originally designed to understand how higher education students engaged with medical and social constructions of disability. The study findings prioritise these students' perspectives and voices through interpretative phenomenological analysis and poetic interpretations. The findings are further nuanced in terms of how several students took up positions of identity that reflect social relational and affirmative disability conceptions. Aside from individuals with disabilities, this study has implications for university staff, medical and human services professionals, and disability researchers focused on higher education. Despite increased enrollments of students with disabilities in higher education, concerns have been raised about these students' university achievement and completion. There is a gap in research when it comes to examining the views and experiences of university students with disabilities, from their own perspectives and voices. Research was carried out with university students with different disabilities in order to gauge the impact of the social and medical models on their perspectives. The research found that there was no single model that dominated their individual identities, as various life experiences resulted in complex and multifaceted understandings of disability. This research is important not only for the service providers who work with individuals with disabilities, but also family members, researchers, and other university staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enacting critical pedagogies within physical education (PE) contexts have been found to increase critical consciousness and disrupt hegemonic taken-for-granted assumptions about ability and the body. As an under-researched area, the aim of our research was to explore the extent to which a critical pedagogical approach in PE can disrupt normative ableist notions of disability through a disability-specific, critically orientated, tennis class. Six students from a large southeastern US university chose to participate and student video narratives and reflective essays were collated as data sources. Through inductive and deductive data analysis, the key themes constructed were: (1) 'the learning journey in critical education', underpinned by the following subthemes: (i) 'initial shock', (ii) 'new experiences', and (iii) 'humbling encounters'; and (2) 'consequences of critical pedagogy', supported by (a) 'building a community through meaningful relationships', and (b) 'change in perspective'. We conclude by discussing the pedagogical potential of our critical approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, invisible disabilities are among the most commonly reported types of disabilities among college students. International data suggest that students with disabilities in higher education are often reluctant to disclose their disability status in order to access accommodations and academic support from their institutions. Few studies have examined institutional disclosure processes that contribute to students non-disclosure decisions. The first day of class is an opportune time for instructors to invite students to disclose their accommodation eligibility. Guided by the multiple goals theoretical framework, 30 first-day-of-class videos from a large, public university in the United States, were collected and analyzed. The findings suggest that when instructors talk about accommodations for students with disabilities on the first day of class, they largely prioritize the students' task goals (e.g. completing documentation and assignments) and often avoid discussing the unique relational and identity needs of students with invisible disabilities. The implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attainment of a college degree is an opportunity for upward social and economic mobility. The benefits of a college degree are wide-ranging and include lower rates of unemployment, higher income, increased job security, and a higher quality of life. Historically underrepresented students, including students with disabilities, are attending college and attaining degrees in increasing numbers in the United States. However, there is evidence from prior research suggesting that not all underrepresented students are being discussed equally by the higher education academic community. For all students to succeed in college and beyond, they must all be part of the important conversations surrounding the American higher education system. This research project investigated the academic discourse of four major academic organizations by analyzing the topics presented at their national annual conferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusion refers to the practice of educating students with disabilities in the general education setting. This concept stems from the seminal United States Congressional legislation PL 94-142, and its subsequent reauthorised amendments, which mandate that students with disabilities be educated in the general education setting with their 'non-disabled' peers to the maximum extent possible. IDEIA's legal mandates underscore the stark reality of discrimination and exclusion faced by individuals with disabilities within schools and society. Although progress has been made in advancing equity agendas of access and academic achievement, few would deny that significant work remains. If all individuals, including those with disabilities are to achieve their birthright of full integration into society, schools must reflect integration at all levels. This article provides a historical perspective on the inclusion movement, discusses the role school leaders play in ensuring inclusive environments and concludes with recommendations for future school leaders and teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students with disabilities face obstacles in their encounters with higher education. The aim of this study is to investigate how the institutional context shapes students’ experiences of unequal opportunities in higher education. In comparing disabled students’ experiences from universities in Sweden, the Czech Republic, and the United States, the study makes visible the kind of experiences that students share and how experiences differ between these countries within the global context of higher education. The study has shown that students’ possibilities for equal participation are shaped by the institutional context that is based on medical diagnosis and compensation for an inaccessible education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This qualitative study described the lived experience of media workers with disabilities in the United States during postsecondary education and their transition to the professional media workplace. While there is ample literature about disability narratives in media products, there is a significant gap in the research about media workers and students with disabilities. Three participants provided face-to-face interviews and submitted media artifacts that they felt provided abstract representations of their experience. Invariant structural themes that emerged were that participants possessed a high level of self-efficacy, and while their colleges provided supportive environments, they faced discrimination in the media workplace. Additionally, they received few or unhelpful educational accommodations and little guidance from faculty as they transitioned from education to work. Findings suggest a need for faculty training in inclusive pedagogies, review of media curricula that considers students with disabilities, and assistance for students as they progress from postsecondary education to the media workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reports on a national study conducted in the United States on the current institutional practices, structures, resources and policies that are needed to ensure online accessibility for all students at colleges and universities. Key findings include the need to better articulate who is responsible for online accessibility initiatives and policies; the need for an institutional investment when creating accessible online environments in terms of technology, staffing and other resources; and a sense of overwhelm at many institutions that are unsure of where to begin with making their online programmes and courses accessible for all students. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Open University (OU) has an established infrastructure for supporting disabled students. Historically, the thrust of this has focused on providing accessible adjustments post-production. In 2012, the OU implemented securing greater accessibility (SeGA) to raise awareness and bring about an institutional change to curriculum design so that the needs of all students, including disabled students, are taken into account from the outset of module design and production. A core component of SeGA is the introduction of faculty accessibility specialists (AS). This case study discusses the successes and challenges for AS in motivating and supporting production teams in the adoption of inclusive anticipatory practices to make new curriculum accessible. It also outlines the process of reasonable adjustment during presentation. It shows how collaborative working between AS has helped standardise design and production processes for accessibility, principles with wider relevance for supporting disabled students in other higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Universal design (UD) educational frameworks provide useful guidelines for designing accessible learning environments with the intention of supporting students with and without disabilities. This article describes how one university instructor defined and applied the principles of Universal Instructional Design (UID) to pedagogy, while designing three online courses. The paper presents the course design process, detailing how UD principles can be operationalised to increase ‘cognitive access’ through a variety of pedagogical practices. The paper illustrates ways in which instructors can consider UID during the five phases of instructional design (analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation). The courses highlighted in this study incorporated varied assignment formats, flexible options, a highly structured format and regular interactions with peers and instructors. Results of the study show that students valued the organisation, instructor interaction and flexible options provided. Implications for practice are presented for instructors seeking to design inclusive course environments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]